Nominations Reactions

“First an Oscar nomination, then I find a basically brand-new queen mattress on my drive home. This is an incredible day.” –Seth MacFarlane

“Congratulations, you five ladies no longer have to pretend to be attracted to Harvey Weinstein.” - Seth MacFarlane to the Best Actress nominees

“The director of the film I’m currently working on just texted me. We had a $100 bet that I wouldn’t get nominated, but he texted me that he’s $100 richer! I’m over the moon!” - Seamus McGarvey, nominated for Anna Karenina

“We are overjoyed that our movie has been Oscar-nominated! We made it with the unending support of brilliant producers and an amazing crew at LAIKA, a unique and cutting-edge studio. On behalf of all of them, we are so proud that the enduring craft of stop-motion has been acknowledged by the Academy — and that the individuality of Norman himself is being celebrated.” – Sam Fell and Chris Butler, directors of the Best Animated Feature nominee ParaNorman

“I’m overwhelmed by the Academy’s response to the film. I heard that I’d been nominated while waiting to take off on a plane from JFK to LAX. James Gandolfini, who’s sitting in front of me, gave me a hug and a kiss, so I’m about as happy as can be.” - Tony Kushner, nominated for Lincoln

“Flight was one of the most challenging roles I’ve ever had in my career, and it was an honor to be directed by Robert Zemeckis. It’s always nice to be asked back to the show, and it will be fun to share the evening with our nominated screenwriter John Gatins.” - Denzel Washington, nominated for Flight

“I was in the car with my family when we heard the news – everyone was so excited! It’s a wonderful honor to be nominated among many great films and storytellers – Wes and I are thrilled.” -Roman Coppola, nominated for Moonrise Kingdom

“I’m very excited! I’m also very pleased that other members of the Anna Karenina gang were nominated since this film was a collaboration.” -Jacqueline Durran, nominated for achievement in costume design for Anna Karenina

“This happening to me was the last thing I expected. Honestly. It’s such a great lineup this year. I didn’t think I had a chance, and I’m so thrilled. I was watching it on television. I couldn’t sleep. I think it might have been because it was a long plane trip, so I turned the TV on and there I was. I did shout out something quite unprintable. Just an expletive.” - Jacki Weaver, nominated for Silver Linings Playbook

“I am delighted to be nominated, and humbled by being in the company of composers whose work I have admired for so long. For the fourth time, director Joe Wright has inspired me and made sure that I would not miss any of the opportunities that his movie opened up for the music. I feel very grateful towards him.” - Dario Marianelli, nominee for Best Original Score of Anna Karenina

“This is a brilliant awards year that has been defined by an eclectic list of stories that have been told by incredibly talented and courageous filmmakers, and it’s an honor to be mentioned in the same sentence as the other nominees in the Best Actor category. Having hosted the show, I have seen so many different sides of the Oscars, but to be an actual nominee is something I never would have dreamed possible.” - Hugh Jackman, nominated for Les Miserables

“I almost hyperventilated because I realized I had been holding my breath for a couple of months. I started crying and I started laughing, and then doing both at the same time. And then the calls and the texts starting coming in.” - Anne Hathaway, nominated for Les Miserables

“There’s no way to be happier than putting on a tuxedo and going through a room full of people screaming.” – Alan Arkin

“I guess it’s time to pick out a tuxedo. I have no idea who I’m going to take with me (to the Oscars). Maybe I’ll just put up an ad on Craigslist.” – Rich Moore, nominated for Wreck-It Ralph

“I am truly happy, touched, and honored to receive, today in New York, a nomination for the role of Anne in Amour by Michael Haneke. For me, it is an immense gift, at this stage of my life, to be chosen by my sisters and brothers, for what I do as an actress. I never thought, while working throughout the years in Europe and France, that one day, I would cross the Atlantic Ocean, come to the United States, and be nominated. It is quite surreal for me” – Emmanuelle Riva, nominated for Amour

“That’s kinda cool, I got nominated. I get to go to the Oscars now.” –Seth MacFarlane

“I was dead asleep and my phone rang. It was my publicist of 21 years, so it wasn’t, like, some stranger — he’s a dear friend who has rooted for me. Then I pet the dog, so the dogs got a good half an hour of tickling. My daughter kept running around saying I was ‘mom-inated.’ Then I made her oatmeal and took her to school. It wasn’t like I drove over to the Beverly Hills Hotel and had Champagne.” – Helen Hunt, nominated for The Sessions

“I am so thrilled and humbled with this morning’s wonderful news. The journey of telling Maria Belon’s miraculous story of survival has been an incredible experience and I am so grateful for this acknowledgment of our film. I am truly honored.” –Naomi Watts, on being nominated for Best Actress for The Impossible

“I think it means a lot to Denmark because we’re only 5 million people, so it’s a small country and an Oscar nomination is incredibly big for us. I remember when Susanne Bier won for “In a Better World,” it was like winning a sports championship.” - director Nikolaj Arcel, on the nomination of A Royal Affair

“30 years in the making and 3 days in the writing — this is how “Suddenly” came to life 30 years after the original show was created. We wrote this song for the film on a suggestion from Tom Hooper, after he asked us to revisit a specific chapter of Victor Hugo’s novel. In this chapter Jean Valjean discovers an overwhelming feeling of love for the little girl Cosette, whom he rescues as promised to her mother — and this happened to him … “Suddenly.” — Claude-Michel Schonberg (music), Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil (lyric), nominated for Les Miserables

“My heartfelt thanks to the Academy for honoring LAIKA and ParaNorman with this nomination. Working with our directors Chris Butler and Sam Fell and my fellow producer Arianne Sutner to bring ParaNorman to audiences worldwide has been the most rewarding experience of my professional life. We’re indebted to Focus Features and Universal Pictures for their advocacy and resolve, to our exceptional cast members for their keenly felt performances, and above all to our unparalleled, extraordinarily talented crew for handcrafting a moving and beautiful work of art.” -Travis Knight, President and CEO of LAIKA

“Realizing our director Joe Wright’s bold and unique vision for Anna Karenina was a challenge, and ultimately a thrill. To have our work recognized by the AMPAS members is an honor, and a joy. We are proud to accept this nomination on behalf of what was a tremendous crew.” -Sarah Greenwood (production designer) and Katie Spencer (set decorator), nominees for Best Production Design, Anna Karenina

“I’ve been up for a while because I’m in L.A. in a hotel, since I’ve got these ceremonies tonight and through the next couple of days. So, my son Sam is here with me, and he banged on my door, and I’ve been up. I’m thrilled and honored and just so overwhelmed for our whole army of warriors.” - Sally Field, nominated for Lincoln

“My wife reminded me that I have been talking about this film most of my life which makes it that much crazier that I am nominated today. I was driving my son to school today, who wasn’t even born when I first started writing this, and he was already asking me if he had a ticket to go to the Oscars.”- screenwriter John Gatins on his nomination for Flight

“I am so excited. … The funny thing is how I sort of talked myself into how I wasn’t going to get up [for the announcements]. But cut to: It’s like 4:30 in the morning, and I’m just puttering around the house, and then I got my mom up and my dog, and then we were watching.” -Bradley Cooper, on being nominated for Best Actor for Silver Linings Playbook

“My first reaction was just screaming. I immediately called Andrea and she was crying. Then I called Inocente and she is so excited and she asked me if she could bring her rabbit to the Oscars.” - Sean Fine, nominated for documentary short, Inocente

“I don’t know what to expect. Just the way awards season started, I didn’t expect much.” - Ang Lee, nominated for Life of Pi

“Well, I think the fact that everyone was saying [my nomination] was a lock was flattering, but it terrified me. I thought it wasn’t going to happen because fate has been tempted. So when I found out, I just started gulping air. I was a little nervous I was going to pass out. Hyperventilating gave way to crying — it was a full-on display of emotions.” - Anne Hathaway on her nomination for Les Miserables

“I’m beyond grateful, since I didn’t know what to expect. I’m especially over the moon for my actors. The fact that Bob [Robert De Niro] and [Jacki Weaver] were nominated is amazing. This morning was just a stunner.” – David O. Russell, nominated for Silver Linings Playbook

“I am deeply honored and frankly a little overwhelmed by all of the nominations that ‘Life of Pi’ has received this morning. So many talented people gave everything they had to this film, both in front of and behind the camera, and to see all of them receive this kind of recognition is something I am incredibly grateful for.” -Ang Lee, nominated for Best Director for Life of Pi.

“I am very pleased that the Academy has chosen to honor the many individuals who were a part of ‘Silver Linings Playbook.’” - Robert DeNiro on the nominations for Silver Linings Playbook.

“We are incredibly honored by today’s Academy Award nomination. Brave has been an adventure from the beginning — starting with our research trips to Scotland, the crew embarked upon a journey that inspired us all and forever changed our fates. Thanks to the Academy from all of us here at Pixar.” - Brave director Mark Andrews

“This is amazing! We tried to do something a little different with ‘The Pirates,’ in terms of tone and comedy, and it’s just brilliant that the Academy has responded to it in such a wonderful way.” - Peter Lord, director of The Pirates: Band of Misfits

‘Frankenweenie’ is a very personal film for me. The idea of telling a feature length version was in the back of my mind for many years. Stop Motion was the perfect medium for this project, and one I’ve always loved for its expressiveness and dimensionality. I’ve worked with so many incredible artists: animators, cast members, set builders, and puppet makers, all who have helped bring this film to life one frame at a time. I’m so honored that the Academy has recognized this film as one of its nominees.” -Tim Burton, director of Frankenweenie

I am blown away! I can’t say thank you enough to the Academy for their support of our films. We have a tremendous group of actors and filmmakers who we had the pleasure of working with this year and I am so happy that their achievements are being recognized.” - distributor Harvey Weinstein

“Being nominated means everything to us as directors – it means the world for the film! We are both in LA with our families and upon hearing the news we ran around in the corridors, hugging each other, waking up the whole hotel at 5:40 in the morning!” - Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg on the nomination of Kon-Tiki

“It is such an honor to receive this recognition from the Academy. Working with Paul Thomas Anderson was a unique and wonderful opportunity that I am so grateful for. I’d also like to send congratulations to the other nominees and to my co-stars Philip and Joaquin.” -Amy Adams, on being nominated for Best Supporting Actress for The Master

“To have the ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ team’s passion and years of hard work acknowledged by the Academy is an honor like no other. We are so proud, so grateful — I can’t wait to congratulate everyone in-person.” – Wreck-It Ralph director Rich More

“This is an unbelievable honor for us to be associated with a film of such impact and importance. As unimaginable as it was for this collaborative Palestinian and Israeli film to actually get made, is now the fact that it is being honored and recognized as both a work of art and landmark political documentary. We are beside ourselves with pride to be the distributor of this unprecedented film.” - Richard Lorber, distributor of 5 Broken Cameras

“It is a true and surrealistic honor to realize ‘Searching for Sugar Man’ has been nominated for an Oscar. Being from Sweden, the Oscars were like a far-fetched fantasy you heard about growing up as a kid — something only one could dream of. The story of Rodriguez is unlike any I have ever known, and I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to share his incredible journey with audiences worldwide. Thank you to the academy, to Sony Pictures Classics and to all those whose efforts and passions made this possible.” - Malik Bendjelloul, director of Searching for Sugar Man

“”I am of course very excited about the nomination this morning. Ben Affleck is an amazing director, and I am so happy that “Argo” was recognized in seven categories!” - Alan Arkin on the nominations for Argo

I was really shocked and stunned in the best way. Especially for Benh, he’s my best friend. I just genuinely wasn’t expecting any of this. I was doing yoga waiting for my laundry to dry, and my boyfriend turned the TV on even though I really didn’t want him to. I just wanted to steer clear. I haven’t even thought about what the Oscars will be like.” –Lucy Alibar, on being nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for Beasts of the Southern Wild

“The five nominations for ‘Amour’ give it a great boost at the box office and it’s a movie like this that really benefits from an Oscar nomination. This is proof that Academy members do go out of their way to see all of the films that are quality.” - Michael Barker, Sony Pictures Classics

“Chad Harbach spent ten years writing his novel. It was his avocation, for which he was paid nothing, with no guarantee he’d ever be paid anything, while he supported himself doing freelance work, for which I don’t think he ever made $30,000 a year. I sold his book for an advance that equated to $65,000 a year—before taxes and commission—for each of the years of work he’d put in. The law schools in this country churn out first-year associates at white-shoe firms that pay them $250,000 a year, when they’re twenty-five years of age, to sit at a desk doing meaningless bullshit to grease the wheels of the corporatocracy, and people get upset about an excellent author getting $65,000 a year? Give me a fucking break.”
~ Book Agent Chris Parris-Lamb On The State Of The Publishing Industry

INTERVIEWERDo you think this anxiety of yours has something to do with being a woman? Do you have to work harder than a male writer, just to create work that isn’t dismissed as being “for women”? Is there a difference between male and female writing?

FERRANTE
I’ll answer with my own story. As a girl—twelve, thirteen years old—I was absolutely certain that a good book had to have a man as its hero, and that depressed me. That phase ended after a couple of years. At fifteen I began to write stories about brave girls who were in serious trouble. But the idea remained—indeed, it grew stronger—that the greatest narrators were men and that one had to learn to narrate like them. I devoured books at that age, and there’s no getting around it, my models were masculine. So even when I wrote stories about girls, I wanted to give the heroine a wealth of experiences, a freedom, a determination that I tried to imitate from the great novels written by men. I didn’t want to write like Madame de La Fayette or Jane Austen or the Brontës—at the time I knew very little about contemporary literature—but like Defoe or Fielding or Flaubert or Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky or even Hugo. While the models offered by women novelists were few and seemed to me for the most part thin, those of male novelists were numerous and almost always dazzling. That phase lasted a long time, until I was in my early twenties, and it left profound effects.
~ Elena Ferrante, Paris Review Art Of Fiction No. 228